Process for pointing and drawing wires



Dec. Z5, 1928. 1,696,698

w. H. SOMMER PROCESS FOR POINTING AND DRAWING WIRES Original'fFiled Feb. 20, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 25, 1928. 1,696,698

W. H. SOMMER PROCESS FOR POINTING AND DRAWING WIRES Original Filed Feb. 20, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheer:l 2

JINV EN TUE..

Dec. 25, 1928.

W. H. SOMMER PROCESS FOR POINTING AND DRAWING WIRES 3. Sheets-Sheet Original Filed Feb. 20. 1926 ,wire drawing operations.

'Patented 25,

' UNITED STA-Tes f 1,696,698 PATENT oFFlcE.

WILLIAM H. somma, or' Pnenm, ILLINOIS.

'.- i v rnocnss ron PorN'rINe AND DRAWING wnmns.

originai application mea February 2o,

This invention has reference to a process for pointing the end of a/wire or a'wire rod,

as the case may be.

Wires or wire rods may be pointed for various reasons, dependent upon the purposes for which they are to be used, and while there is no limitation in the use lof wire or wire rods by my process, I shall describe the use of such pointing in connection with In this connection wire to be drawn to different sizes, or gauge, is inserted throu h a reducing die and-coiled or wrapped a out a wire drawf ing-block and, in practice, to perform such operations the end of the wire is pointed, Awhereby it ymay beV inserted through the drawing die and attached to the block, which operates to draw -thewire to a reduced size through the' die and wrap such wire around the drawing block. Such pointing of the wire becomes all the more necessary where the drawing operation is` continuous, lthe .drawing block beingy positioned beyond a series of drawing dles and the wire being drawn successive? rom` a glven w1re through a serles o reductions to the size of wire desired; asz for instance, 'for thepurpose of Illustration, draw a wire from No.

12% gauge to No. 19 gauge through a series of reductions, say 13%, 15, 16 and 17%. Inv

.such a continuous drawing operation there or a wire rod aserie's or a pluralit of successlve elongations which dier 1n Iameter,

each of the successive diameters beginning with the'end of the wireeor wire rod, corv responding, substantially to the respective f .drawing dies, throu h which the same is toA be drawn to enable t e operator to insert the wire or rod, first, through one d ie and thenl through the successive dies, andby means of suitable power applied to the Wire or rod dies and att-ach the endo I n to a drawing block, whereby the operatlonj l 'left of Fig. 2;

to thread the same throu h the successive the wire or rod ofv drawing 'may be carried on.

A further object Aof the invention is tok provideV a process for progressively 'producingonangjend f a. wirea series `of stepped elong ations`; of lsuccessively reduced diam,

1926, Serial No. 89,739. Divided and this application. iled May 4,

1927. Serial No. 188,745.

these reduced sections, which is greatest to- 1 ward the end of the wire. The resulting operation of the pointing of the wireprovides therein sufcient tensile strength to withstand the pull required during the threading operation through the.. successive dies and, also, to withstandv the nal drawing operation-through Ythe last die, which determines the size or gauge of the wire to be drawn, by means of the drawing block which draws thegwire and coils it into the bundle. l

In'carrying out the foregoing objects, I

provide in one form ofan apparatus a plui rahty of sets of swaging and hammer members, which are successively placed in juxtathe end of the wire a series of stepped elongations of successively reduced diameters, means being provided to rotate the said swaging and hammer members in unison, and their disposition and operation in relation to each other being such that they act upon the wire in rapid progression and alternately, vwhereby no two sets of the swaging and hammer members operate at the same time and thereb obviate any cobbling of the wire during suc pointing formation.

That the invention may be more fully unl lderstood I have herein illustrated an appa' ratus embodying in its preferred form a structure through and by means of which the steps of the pro'cess may be carried out, and Iin which Fig.'1'- shows in side elevation the general arrangement of Ia continuous wire drawing' bench and 'my apparatus associated therewith for inting the end of a wire; p

Fig. 2 1s an enlarged side elevation of the apparatus associated with a motor drive therefor; l

` Fig. 3.is anelevation looking towards the.

Fig. ,4 is a detail showing the means for manually controlling the operation of the motor-and `also the pointing apparatus;

5 is a Longitudinal sectional view lll) through the apparatus, parts being shown in facilitate in the drawing operation of wire is full lines; not new, whether by continuous process or Fig. 6 is an end elevation in cross section, otherwise, but'I am not aware that by ,any as the same would appear if taken on the known process, or by the use ofI any known line 6 6, Fig. 5, looking in the direction of. apparatus, a predetermined length of a secthe arrows and the arrangement of a set of tion of one end of a wire is pointed by a seswaging and hammer members and the ries of stepped elongations progressively armeans for acting thereupon;

Fig.V 7 is a detail perspective view of one of the hammer members;

ranged and where the successive elongations are of different diameters, ashereln pointed out.

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view of the I am, also, laware that attempts have been acting ends of a set of the swaging members made to reduce the,l gauge of wire in a conshowing the arrangement and formation of tinuous process, by swaging, in lieu of the the die faces; l ordinary drawing process, `and that the Fig. 9 shows in detail, and considerably swaging mechanisms were located at distant enlarged 'over actual size, the pointing forpoints in relation to each other and associated mation produced on an end of a Wire by my with feeding and take-up means; also, that IOCBSS. p Fig. 10 is a plan view of a cage employed continuous operations for forging down inwithln the apparatus, showing the arrangef gots, blooms and the like. However, none i ment' for the seating of rollers which act of such mechanisms are intended to, or could upon the hammer and swaging members; be used for pointing a wire, such as herein Fig. 1l shows in a diagrammaticway thecontemplated, and which produces a point on cage illustrated in Fig. 10, which is of cira predetermined section of a length of wire, cular or ring like formation and which 'has which point embodies a series of stepped been flattened out for the purpose of illuselongations of successively different diamtrating the disposition, spacing and arranger' eters.

ment of the seats for the rollers, designed In Fig. 1 there is illustrated a greatly reto act progressively and alternately upon duced side yelevation of a continuous wire.

the swaging and hammer members as they drawing bench, involving certain novel feaare rotated; y Y tures of construction, but which forms no Fig. 12 is a detail in cross section of the part of the present invention and is only inirst, set of swagingand hammer members, troduced for the purpose of illustrating the and the means for acting thereupon, as the application and adaptability of an apparasame would appear, within the cageif taken tus by means of which the within described on the linel 12-12 of Fig. 10 looking in the process for pointing the ends of the wires direction of the arrows on said ligure; may be carried out, and I have shown the Fig. 13 is a detail in cross section of the pointing mechanism in a convenient locasecond set of swaging and hammer memtion on the wire drawing bench, and the conbers, and the means for acting thereupon, as trolling and operating means therefor. So the same would appear, within the cage, if far as the drawing bench, therefore, is conswaging mechanisms have been employed in J taken on the line 13-13 of Fig. 10 looking `cerned mention. need only be made of the in the direction ofthe arrows on said g- Series Of drawing dies, A, B, C, D and E, ure; and the sets of wire guiding drums a and Fig. 14 is a detail in cross sectionof the rollers a and a; b, b and 5; c, c and c third set of swaging and hammer members', land d, d and al respectively, and the wire and the means for acting thereupon, as the drawing block F. Assuming that it was desame would appear, within the ca e, if taken sired to draw a No. 19 gauge wire from a No.

on the line lll-14: of Fig. 10 loo ing in the 121/2 gauge wire, the lirst reduction would direction of the arrows on said ligure; be made by the drawing die A, producing a Fig. 15 is a detail in cross section of the No. 131/2 gauge; the second reduction would fourth set of swaging and hammer members, be made by the drawing die B, producing a.

and the means yfor acting thereupon, as the No. 15 gauge; the third reduction would be same would appear, within the cage, if taken made by the drawing die C, producing a No. on the line 15-15 of Fig. 10 looking in the 16 gauge; the fourth reduction would be direction of the arrows on saidfigure; l made by the drawing die D, producing a No.

Fig. 16 is a detail in cross sectionof the 171/2 gaugeyand the fifth reduction would fifth set of swaging and hammer members,` be made by the drawing die E, producing and the .means for acting thereupon, as the a No. 19 gauge, which is the final gauge at 'same would appear, within the cage, if taken which it isdesired to draw the wire from a on the line 16-16 of Fig. 10 looking in the No. 121/,V gauge. These succeeding reducdirection of the arrows on said ligure. tions may be changed as occasion requires.

Like characters of reference denote corre- In other Words, there is no limitation as to spending parts throughout the figures. the ori inal gau e of the Wire, or the gauge I am aware that pointing a wire perse to to whic it is to e reduced, as the respective dies would be constructed to meet these needs.

It should now be apparent that to facilitate the drawing of the wire, and particularly as on a wire drawing bench such as eX- hibited in Fig. ,1, the threading ofthe bench by passing thev wire through the several drawing dies should be.y made convenient and simple and to ac complishthis I provide for the pointing of the end of a wire in the manner exhibited in Fig. 9, wherein apredetermined length of sectionv at one end of the wir-e is formed or provided with a se' riesof stepped elongations A', B', C, -D and Eand wherein the successive elongatlons are of different diameters but reduced vfrom thefmain body portion of the wire through the series of reductions A and E',Vv

bothinclusive, and such reductions corresponding to the openings through the respective dies A to E both inclusive. In other words, the elongated reduction A on the wire corresponds to the drawing ldie A; the elongated reduction B on the wire corresponds to the drawing die B; the elongated reduction C on the wire corresponds to the drawing die C; the elongated reduction D 0n the wire corresponds to the drawing die 1), and the elongated reduction E on the wire corresponds to the iinal drawing-die E and repr-esents the ,size the wire is finally to be drawn. If, for instance, as above end of the wire., protrudingthrough the stated, it is 'desirable to draw a wire from a No. 121/2 gauge 'to a No. 19 gauge, the pointing on the end of the wire to adapt it to be threaded through the respective dies A to E,

both inclusive, would include, preferably,

the series of stepped reductions above ointed out and which are best seen in ig. .9. f

' The threading operation would beA somewhatl aslfollows: The end of the. pointed wire is inserted through the drawing die A and when the elongated reductionA is coincident with the drawing die A, a power operated gripper is attached to the pointed drawing die lA and a suiicient amount .of the wire drawn to the size represented by A to enable the operator to coil the wire around the drum and over the guiding rolls a and a; the'pointed end of the wire is then inserted through the drawing die B until the reduced elongation B is coincidrawing dies, C, D and E and coiled around the respective drums Z), Gland d, and the rollers associated therewith, until the pointed end of the wire' shall be attached to the drawing block F, and when the dies have been so threaded and the wire to be drawn so attached to they drawing block F .the bench may be operated, whereby to continuously draw wire from a No. 121/2 guage to a No.19 gauge, as herein indicated, or to other and various sizes of gauges as may be desired. ,y

The mechanism which l employ to point vthe 'end of the wire, as herein described, and as best indicated in Fig. 9, is of such a character that it will act upon a predetermined v section of an end of a wire to produce the progressively disposed and successively diftering diameters, which results in an elongation of the said predetermined section and which Ialso increases the density of the several reductions and therely tensile strength of the sai section, which greatest toward the end of the wire.Y

There is, therefore, provided suiicient strength in the end ofthe wire to withstand the pulling strain by the means appliedthereto4 for threading the wire through the several drawing dies, as will be understood. The pointing mechanism includes in its structure a housing 30,(Lsupported by a base y plate 31, and in said housing there is journaled a slotted shaft 32 to which is secured a pulley 33 by means of which the pointing mechanism may be operated through and by means of a belt 34, actuated by a pulley 35 increases the on the shaft of a motor 36, vthe motor being `mounted on a suitable support 37.

' Means is provided for manually controlling the source of power to the^pulley 33;

such a means being desirable, due to the fact, that the pointing mechanism is only` operated periodically and then only when it is desired to point a wire for threading it l through the respect-ive drawing dies of the drawing bench, it being obvious that when the bench is in operation drawing wire, and there is no mishap, there is 'no need of-using kthe pointing mechanism. The means em-` ployed for controlling the source of power to the motor comprises a foot lever or treadle 38 to which is connected a rod 39 and it in turn has connection with a bellcrank lever 40 having connected. thereto a bar 41 which in turn has connection with a vcrank arm 42 carrying an idler 4'3adapted to'be moved into cont-act with the belt 34 so as to produce suiicient frictional engage- "ment between said belt, the pulley 35 and the pulley 33.for imparting motion `from the former to the latter. Two contact members are provided- 44 and 45-with which a con- .tact member 46 on the bar-41 is adapted to y have engagement, in the manner illustrated vin Figs. 1, 2 and 4. The contact members 44 and 45 provide terminals for an electric circuit, which may be made and broken through the reciprocation of the bar 41 to provide contact of the member 46 therewith. When the operator desires to actuate the shaft/Y 32 of the pointing mechanism he presses down the foot lever or treadle 38, oscillating the bell crank lever 40 and shifting the bar 41 into the full line position shown in Fig. 2 and the dotted line position shown in Fig. 4, which causes a contact between the contact members 446, `44 and 45, resulting, as will be obvious, in the motor starting and imparting rotation to the slotted shaft 32. These parts are so arranged lthat the contact members 46, 44 and 45 will first engage to impart rotative movement to/the motor, and then the further movement of the bar 41 will cause the idler 43 to bear sufficiently against the belt 34 so 'as to produce the necessary frictional engagement between the belt and the pulleys 35 and 33 to impart rotation to the shaft 32 of the pointing mechanism.

The housing 30 is preferably cylindrical in formation, being closed at its opposite ends by the removable end plates 47 and 48 and they are so constructed as to form bearing surfaces for the opposite ends of the slotted shaft 32, said shaft being slotted transversely, as at 49, so as to open out at diagrammatically opposite sides thereof, see Fig. 6, and to extend for a greater portion of the length thereof and for that portion, particularly', within the housing and between its end plates. At the feeding-in side of the shaft 32 there is threaded into the end plate 47, in axial alignment with said/shaft, a guide 50 havin a tapered opening 51 converging inwar ly of said" guide. At the opposite end of said shaft 32 and in that portion protruding through the end plate 48, and to which the pulley 33 is secured, there is provided a threaded bushing 51 disposed axially of the shaft and with an axially aligned opening 52 therethrough which is enlarged or tapered, as at 53, at the inner end thereof. This bushing is intended, not only as a wire guide, but

is also adjustable to takeup any end thrust or play which may develop between the swaging members and the hammer members, to be described, operatively carried within the slotted shaft.

Within the slotted portion 49 of the shaft 32, as best seen in Fig. 5, are a plurality of sets of swaging members 54, each set comprising two members capable of slidingv movement towardl and in opposite directions from each other radially of the shaft.

As illustrated in the drawings there are preferably provided five sets of such swaging members ,disposed in juxtaposition and longitudinally of the shaft, filling the space provided by the slot 49 therein, and the matching and coacting faces of each pair of said swaging members are formed or provided with dies of a construction suitable to perform the reductions on the wire, as may be desired, and the meeting faces of each set of dies are normally axially of the shaft 32. Each set of swaging members may be said to be substantially alike, in that, they are adapted and intended to produce substantially the same' elongated formations on the end ofa wire, such as is exhibited on the wire section shown in Fig. 9, and the arrangementof' the diefaces of the coacting members, forming each set are preferably so shaped as to produce the successive elongations A', B', C", D and E on the end of a wire with the stepped portions G therebetween, see Fig. 9. Thus, it will be obvious that the die faces/of the successive sets of swaging members 54 differ in formation only to the extent that the openings therebetween, or provided by such die faces, are more and more restricted-beginning with the largest opening in the first set of swaging members at the left of Fig. 5, which is at the receiving end of the device, and being more and morey reducedL and concluding with the smallest opening in the swaging set at the farthest end of the shaft 32 within the housing andat the other end of the slot 49 therein, as it is believed will be understood. In the receiving end of the shaft 32 a suitable bushing 55fis provided with a wire opening therethrough in axial alignment with the opening` in the guide 50 and which act-s as a feeder for the wire into the shaft as it is fed forwardly to and between the pair of swaging members 54 is a pair of hammer members 56, one each engaging a swaging member, and the said hammer members lying in juxtaposition to each other throughout the series in substantially the same .manner as are the swaging members, see Fig. 5. These hammer members like the swaging members are capable of movement radially of the shaft.

Between the peripheral surface of the shaft 32, having reference to that portion of the shaft lying between the endl plates 47 and 48, and the housing 30k are provided a plurality of annular spaced rings 57, these rings being spaced so that certain of said rings are preferably located at the meeting edges of adjacent hammer members 56, while others of said rings are located at the meeting edges of the opposite and en d hammer members and the adjacent end walls of the-slot 49 in the shaft 32, see Fig. 5;

and encircling the said rings, and between the same and the housing, is located a cylindrical cage 58 capable of, creeping movement, and between the periphery of the Lacasse cage and the housing there is preferably provided a hardened steel bushing y59.

The outer faces of the,hammer members 56 are provided with the rounded portions 60 mediate their ends,.at best illustrated in Fig. 7, and adapted to have a rollingv contact with these rounded portions' of the hammers are rollers-61, which are disposed within openings 62 in the cage 58. Such openings and their arrangement are 'best shown in Figs. 101 and 11, although they are shown in several cross sectional views and, particularly, Figs. 5 and 6.

It will be observed from` an examination of Figs. 12 to 16, both inclusive, which are cross sectional views taken progressively of the successively arranged swaging and hammer members-beginning with the first set at the left hand end of Fig. 5, six rollers in each instance are provided for engage-l ment with the several sets of hammer members, with the exception of the last set of said hammer members at the 'right hand end of Fig. 5,A and for this set there are provided twelve rollers. In other words, as will be fully explained, the set of swag.- ing and hammer members at the right hand end of Figs. 1 are operated upon by the rollers twice as often as any of the remaining swaging and hammer sets. In addition to the rollers 61, serving to bear against the hammer members to bring about the swaging action, they provide a roller. bearing action for the shaft 32 which facilitates vits smooth operation. The disposition and arrangement of the rings 57 prevent any over-travel of the hammer members 56 during the rotation of the -shaft 32 and between the rollers 61.

The roller arrangement as illustrated in Figs. 12 to 16, both inclusive, and the relative activities of the individual rollers on the hammer members as they are timed in their relation to each other, is probably best seen in Figs. 10 and 11 showing the detailed disposition of the slots 62, in which the rollers are carried; sectional indicating lines on Fig. 10 corresponding to the sectional views, Figs. 12 to 16, both inclusive, as will be observed by comparison'.

On Fig. l1, which represents in a diagrammatic way the attened or extended cage 58, 10-10 is an indicating line which represents the axis o'f the cage, as exhibited in Fig. 10.4 -For each set of swaging and hammer members within the shaft 32 there is provided an annular row ofopenings 62 in the cage 58 and in each opening is a roller 61. As will be observed, the openings of the respective annular rows are in well defined staggered arrangement in relationl to each other, the purposeof which is to have the first set of hammers at the left of Fig. 5 acted upon by one pair of coacting rollers, which are diametrically disposed, and immediately following thev actionl of one pair of rollers on the first set of hammers at the left in Figa 5, and vin rapid progression as the shaft 32 is'rotated, a pair of rollers' engage with the third set of hammer'members from the left in Fig.

5 and following this in the same manner,

the last set of hammers are acted upon,

which are .at the right end ofv Fig. 5, and V thence are operated the hammers of the second set and then the` hammers of the fourth set, followed by the hammers in the the last set. As has been previously stated the last set of hammers` atthe right in Fig. S0

5 are operated twice While the other hammers of each `set are only operated once.

ing rows. For instance, 1 designates an.

opening in the first annular row of open ings and denotes the first set of rollers to come into operation; 2 designates an opening in the third annular row of openings K and denotesvthe second set `of rollers to come into operation; 3 designates an open-Iv ing in the fifth annular row of openings and denotes the third set of rollers to come into operation; 4 designates an opening in the second annular row of openings and denotes the fourth set of rollers to come into operation; 5 designates an opening in the fourth annular row of openings and denotes the fifthvset of rollers to come .into operation; and 6like 3 designates an opening in the'fifth annular row of openings and denotes the sixth set of rollers to come into operation. Thus it will be observed that the staggered arrangement of the openings in the cage 58 provides for alternate operation of the progressively disposed swaging and hammer members, with the exception that the last set of `swaging and hammer members are operated twice as often as any olf the other sets. It is further observed that the arrangement and Sdisposition of the openings 6.2l in the cage 58 are such that no two sets of swaging and hammer members are operated at the same time, yalthough they are o erated in very rapid succession as the sha t`32 is revolved.

The vaverage speed of rotation of thisshaft in actual operation will be approximately 1200 revolutions per minute. By timing the progressive and successive operations of the respective swaging and hammer members so that no two sets operate at thev same time, I accomplish two important thin s, 011e is that cobbling of the Wire,

within the swaging mechanism is obviated,

and the other is that the excess material in the wire, due to the successive reductions of diameters therein, is absorbed vin the reduced elongations in one or both directions axially of such pointed portion of the wire. 1

In Figs. 10 and 11 the numerals 7 to 18, both inclusive, are employed to show the further and continuous timing of the operation of the respective swaging and hammer members associated with the rollers disposed 4 within these openings, and shows the resulting operation of the respective swaging and hammer members during the complete and continuous rotations of the shaft 32.

The hardened steel bushing 59 is fixed against rotation within the housing 30 and between the end plates 47 and 48, whereas, the cage 58 and the rings 57 are free for a creeping movement with the shaft`32 and the swaging and hammer members therein, the rollers located in the openings 62 in the cage 58 operating on the hammer members 56 between the spaced rings757, as best seen in Figs. 5 and 6. Each time that a pair of diametrically disposed rollers come into operative position, whereby, the blow is delivered on the hammer members there is a roller bearing engaging set up with the hardened steel bushing 59, which, if the cage were not permitted to creep, would result Y in the blows which are imparted being transmitted always to a common point on the hardened steel Ybushing and it is desirable to avoid this, and this is accompli/shed by permitting the cage to creep, moving in the direction of the shaft and with it at the time that the contacts are set up between the hammers 56 and the said-rollers 61. This is also a desirable movement in that if the cage were not permitted to creep a sliding actionwould set up, which would not be as effective as the -roller bearing4 action provided -for. This also produces'a substantially noisecomes necessary to ret read the dies, and

through the guide 51 at the left hand end, as

that to point the wire the shaft 32 is set into' operation andwthe end of the wire, by preferably manual operation, is inserted into and shown in Fig. 5, and thence through and into the die faces of the progressively arranged swaging members, a predetermined length of section at the end of a wire being inserted into and between the swaging members, and the successively produced elongations of dili'erent diameters absorbing the D and E, in which position of the wire thel drawing process is ready to begin.

In the foregoing description I have pointed out that the process is useful in pointing materials, such as wire and wire-rods, and I want it understood thatI comprehend such use to cover reductions on the end of a wire, which has already been through a cold drawn operation from a .wire rod, or a wire rod which` has not gone throu h a cold drawing operation, and drill ro s of whatever character, and in fact any like materials where it is desired to point a predetermined y length of section at one end thereof, whereby the same may be used for the purposes herein set forth.

This application is a division of the application iled by me February 20, 1926, bearing Serial No.I 89,739, for an apparatus for pointing a wire.

What I claim is'z`- i l The hereindescribed method for pointing and drawing wire orv the likel through a series of successive reducing dies of a continuous wire drawing bench, which resides in initially shaping the end portions of the wire to provide samewith a succession of reduced portions which latter correspond approximately in dianieter to the diameters of the reducing diesof a wire-drawing benchand then in threading the end of least diameter into the reducing die of gr'eatest diameter and moving -`the wire until the various diametered portions are in register` with th respective reducin dies of corresponding diameter, and fina ly in drawing the-.wire through the reducing dies. f'-

` WILLIAM H.' SOMMER. 

